Crutch armrest



Patented Mar. 11, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE entren ARMREST Y Henri C. McGowan, Augusta, Ga. applicants March 12, i945, serial -N-c. f-'5sa12i5'l yIlhis invention relates to an improved armrest for crutches, and more particularly to an armrest which may be erlnoloyeo.V in the crutch as initially made, lor may be manufactured for application to a crutch having a conventional armrest.

Conventional armrests for crutches are made of the same thickness, or substantially the same thickness throughout, or at least throughout the upper portion thereof on which the body is supported. In some cases, such as those in which the armrest is provided with padding which makes the armrest thicker and bullrier than an unpadded armrest, the central portion of the rest is made slightly narrower than the ends, but the difference is notI substantial enough to amount to any departure fromarmrests having the same thickness throughout. In either case, the armrest may slip or slide backward or forward under the arm or arm pit. This causes unnecessary friction and chaiing, and presents the possibility of the crutch slipping from under the arm pit at each step, Such armrests, furthermore, may twist or turn under the arm pit about the vertical axis of the crutch, with the resulting possibility of slipping from beneath the arm. Such twisting and turning also may result in the slipping of the tip 'of the crutch.

It is desirable that the upper portion of a crutch armrest be smooth so as to minimize .friction and chaiing as much as possible The sides of the armrest do not ordinarily move against or rub any portion of the body, and if smooth cannot be securely clamped between the arm and body when the crutch is temporarily unused, as when the grip of the hand on the crutch is released in order to employ the hand for some other purpose. In such cases, it is difficult to move the hand without also moving the upper part of the arm slightly, often causing the crutch to fall to the ground since the smooth sides of the armrest present no frictional surfaceto aid in retaining the crutch in position. The crutch armrestI of `this invention avoids these defects and diiiiculties. u

It is an object of this invention to provide a crutch armrest either applicable to a conven tional crutch or employed in place of a conventional armrest in the manufacture of a crutch.

It is another object of this invention to provide a crutch armrest which prevents accidental movement of the crutch out of position beneath the arm.

It is a further object of thisinvention to 'provide a crutch armrest having a relatively wide 5 claims. (c1. 1135-152) 2 upper surface to `minimize pain and discomfort tothe user fof the crutch.

Itis also an object `of Vthis invention to provide a crutch armrest having enlarged ends to prevent longitudinal 'shifting of the armrest under the arm pit.

It is an additional objectief this invention to provide `a crutch armrest having enlargements at 'the end portions thereof to 'prevent twisting of the crutch.

It is still another vobject of the invention to provide a Ycrutcharrnrest having Toughened surfaces -on the side portions thereof to facilitate clamping lof the crutch between the arm and body.

'Other and further objects and advantages of' cluded inthe manufacture ofa crutch; land Figure '5 is a fragmentary planview of an armrest similar to that `of Figure `2, but lshowing a modified formfof 'the end portion thereof.

The armrest It is made substantially wider or thicker than the conventional armrest so that the central portion of the upper surface H .pro vides 'a `broad Asurface under the arm pit. The width'of this portion may be of the order of three in'ch'es. The sides of the armrest below the surface Il are provided with'corrugations i3 extending horizontally-therealong to 'facilitate gripping the crutch betweenthe `arm'and body "of the wearer. The corrugated surfaces extend over only the lower portions of the sides i2, to avoid any rough surface near `the top of the` armrest which might cause ohanng ordiscomfort.

The bottom of fthe armrest lil is provided with a 'slot I4 extending longitudinally of the armrest and having'a width corresponding -to thatof a conventional armrest. The top wall ofthe 'slot I4, as best Ashown in Figure 1, has substantially horizontal endportions Ma anda substantially horizontal central portionY Mb below thexplane of the` surfa'c'es Ma 'with intermediate'l portions Mc extending at'an angle between the ends of the central portion I4B and the inner ends of the end portions Illa. By this construction, the armrest I when applied to a conventional crutch armrest A has at least two points or lines of bearing on the conventional armrest A, and relative rocking movement therebetween is prevented. At least a two-point contact is assured regardless of the curvature of the top surface of the armrest A,

Bolt aperturesi having counterbores I6 are provided in 4the sides I2 of the armrest, these apertures extending through the side walls of the slot i4, each aperture being aligned with an aperture in the opposite wall so that a bolt Il or the like may extend through thev aperture to secure the armrest IS to the conventional armrestl A. The conventional armrest A is provided with a plurality of apertures each aligned with a pair of the bolt apertures I5 when the armrest IB is applied over the armrest A, so that the bolts I'l may extend through the two armrests and hold them in secured relation. The counterbores I6l provide recesses accommodating the bolt heads and nuts so that they will not project beyond the surfaces of the sides I2. The armrest Iii may, of course, be secured to the conventional armrest A otherwise than as just described.

The upper portion of the armrest i@ has the ends thereof enlarged t0 provide bosses or knobs I8. Each of the knob-s I8 is of considerably greater width than the central and lower portions of the armrest, and has any suitable extent longitudinally of the armrest. The edges and corners of the knobs IS are preferably smoothly rounded, and the junctions between' the knobs I8 and the narrower portions of the armrest are also preferably smoothly rounded. The knob Ita illustrated in Figure 5 differs from the knobs lil best shown in Figure 2 primarily in diverging more sharply or abruptly from the vsides I2 of the armrest than do the knobs I8.

In the construction illustrated in Figure 4, the armrest I is substantially the same as the armrest illustrated in Figure l, except that it is formed without the slot I4 and the bolt holes I5,

since it is not applied over a conventional crutch armrest, but is secured directly to the vertical members or uprights I9 of a crutch in any suitable manner. It will be obvious that the armrest might be so applied to a crutch either in the original manufacture of the crutch or by removing the f conventional armrest of a crutch and substituting the armrest of Figure 4, instead of forming the slotted armrest of Figure 1 and applying it over the conventional armrest as described.

The broad surface of the central part of the armrest of this invention results in a decrease in pressure per unit area of the arm on the armrest, thus reducing and relieving to a great extent the pain and discomfort to the arm, arm pit, and the arm and shoulder muscles of a person who uses crutches. This greater surface area also aids in making the crutch more secure under the arm pit.

The formation of the armrest with the knobs or enlargements at the ends thereof holds the armrest, and therefore the crutch, securely in position in two ways. The knobs act as sto-ps to prevent slipping or sliding of the armrest backward or forward relatively to the 'arm pit, one knob bearing against the body and arm at the front to prevent rearward movement of the arm-l rest and the other similarly preventing forward movement. The knobs also serve as braces or stops to prevent twisting or turning of the `crutch on its vertical axis, any such rotation of the crutch being resisted by one side or the other of each knob, depending upon the direction in which the rotatng force is acting. It will be obvious that the knobs greatly increase the safety and comfort of persons using crutches. The knobs practically prevent the possibility of the crutch slipping backward or forward from under the arm so that the person is left without support on one side, and also prevent rotation of the crutch so that the crutch tip does not twist on the walking surface. Such twisting often causes a crutch to slip or slide, resulting in many accidents. By preventing sliding and twisting of the armrest, also, the knobs minimize chang at the armpit.

The roughened lower surfaces of the sides of the arm rest greatly minimize the possibility of the crutch slipping from underneath the arm when it is momentarily or temporarily held clamped in an upright postion against the body by the upper portion of the arm. Smooth side surfaces on crutch armrests do not provide any friction to assist in maintaining the crutch in position in such cases. In fact, in many instances smoothness of the armrest sides results only in the crutch slipping more quickly and easily the tighter the clamping action of the arm thereon.

The armrest of this invention greatly increases the safety, comfort, and convenience of persons using crutches, either permanently or temporarily, and may readily be applied to old crutches or formed as part of new crutches.

It will, of course, `be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

'1. A crutch 'armrest having an upper central portion, lenlarged end portions merging with said upper central portion, and side portions below the central portion provided with horizontal corrugations.

2. An auxiliary armrest for application over a crutch armrest, said auxiliary armrest being wider than said crutch armrest and having a slot opening from its bottom to snugly receive the crutch armrest, the portion of the rest forming the top of the slot having intermediate projections for engaging the top of the crutch armrest to provide at least a two-point bearing contact between said auxiliary armrest and said crutch armrest, means to secure said crutch armrest in said slot, and a knob on each end of said auxiliary armrest.

3. An auxiliary armrest for application over a crutch armrest, said auxiliary armrest being wider than said crutch armrest and having a slot opening from its bottom to snugly receive the crutch armrest, the portion of the rest forming the top of said slot having two horizontal surfaces and intermediate projections on the downwardly facing wall of said slot for engaging the top of the crutch armrest to provide at least a two-point bearing contact between said auxiliary armrest and said crutch armrest, means to secure said crutch armrest in said slot, a knob on each end of said auxiliary armrest, and friction means on the sides of said auxiliary armrest.

4. In combination with a crutch having a conventional armrest, an auxiliary armrest slotted to snugly t over said conventional armrest, that portion of the auxiliary armrest defining the top of the slot having a plurality of horizontal surfaces in different planes making at least a twopcint contact with said conventional armrest, the side surfaces of said auxiliary armrest being horizontally corrugated toi facilitate holding the crutch between the body and arm of the wearer, and means passing through the sides of said auxiliary armrest and the conventional armrest for securing said auxiliary armrest in place on said crutch.

5. An auxiliary armrest for application over a crutch armrest, said auxiliary armrest having a slot in it opening from its bottom to snugly receive the crutch armrest, the portion of the auxiliary armrest defining the top of said slot having two spaced horizontal end portions lying in the l5 same plane, and an intermediate portion lying below the plane of said end portions, and inclined portions connecting the end and intermediate portions.

HENRI, C. MCGOWAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in 'the n ile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 40,443 Crandall Oct. 27, 1863 1,453,790 Glowacki May 1, 1923 1,232,057 Lineback July 3, 1917 

